Love Complications
by Firenzie
Summary: The follow-up to "Enchanted." It's a story about Harry and Hermione, who finally confess their love...only with Ron to try to ruin it! There's mysterious potions, a love triangle, lots of parts...and an interesting plot twist...but I won't ruin it.
1. A Promise and a Vow

Love Complications (Part 1)

By Firenze

**A/N: **This is the follow-up story to "Enchanted" because I kept straying away from the plot of the story as you noticed. Not that this title is any better, so I'll probably change it. (It's also too much like a Hermione and Harry are finally together, but one thing is standing in their way of true happiness: their best friend Ron.

**Disclaimer:** Anything and everything you recognize from the Harry Potter books is obviously J.K. Rowling's. If you seriously thought I had made these characters up or I am J.K. Rowling, you are on some very strong drugs or you're just totally insane.

***

"A Promise and a Vow"

Hermione was absorbed in her studying, as she was at the library as usual. It was lunchtime, but she wasn't really hungry. She seriously needed to study for the steadily nearing O.W.L.s.

"Hey, Hermione," someone said, and took a seat next to her.

"Hello," she muttered, not looking up. But she could tell by his voice, and the way her heart was beating insanely that it was Harry. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he replied, putting his elbows on the tabletop and resting his head on his fists. "I just came to talk."

"About what?" she asked, still not daring to look at him, for fear of blushing and embarrassing herself again.

"Nothing in particular," he said, "I just wanted to – you know, hang out."

"All right," she agreed, closing the cover of the book. "So that means you have something you want to ask me about, right?"

"How can you always read my mind?" Harry wondered in bewilderment.

"I guess best friends have that sort of ESP. Except I don't get it with Ron, because you can never know what insane thing he's thinking, but most of the time it's about girls."

"All guys think about girls most of the time," Harry admitted. "Anyway, maybe you only have ESP with boys that you like." He grinned.

"Oh, shut up!" Hermione said, blushing crimson. 

"Why?" he asked, and then added, "The whole school already knows."

"Because you just had to yell it out in the Great Hall," she said dryly.

"Look, I'm sorry about that, but Malfoy wouldn't quit about me being so ugly that no girls would like me—"

"You could have named any of the other thousands of girls who admired you," she said irately. "In fact, you didn't even have to prove it. Everyone knows you're not ugly, and Malfoy is just jealous that he doesn't look as good as you." She looked away again, flushed with embarrassment. "I mean, the only girl who likes him is" – she shuddered – "Pansy Parkinson, but even I can't see why."

"Aw, come on, Hermione. Isn't it easier now that you don't have to hide your feelings for me?"

Hermione had a strong urge to wipe that smug grin off his face with a smack, but she still liked him and how incredibly charming he could be. "It was easier when only us two knew, and people weren't constantly teasing me about being in love with you. But maybe it was better when I hid it."

He looked up. "I don't think you should hide it if you're in love with someone."

"So explain why you haven't asked Cho out yet."

Harry remained perfectly calm. "Maybe it's because I'm not in love with Cho. Maybe it's because…because…"

"…Because?" she asked him.

Harry took a deep breath. "This is hard to say, so I'll just spit it out and get it over with. And don't interrupt me, because I don't want to say this again."

Hermione smiled, knowing exactly what he was planning to say. For once, she tried to catch his eye, but he was staring at the ground, fidgeting.

"You know how at the Valentine's Ball, I said to never give up hope that I could ever like you?" he asked quietly, twiddling his thumbs.

Sure enough, she nodded. How could she ever forget? That was like the highlight of her life; what had brought her spirits up after all that Entrancement Enchantment mess.

"Well, it was a good call for me to say that. I think that back then my subconscious form, which has been trying to escape forever, was trying to tell my brain something that it just wouldn't register. That I've always had a crush on you, but I just couldn't bring myself to admit it to – myself, I guess. Still following?" He realized how ridiculously confusing that sounded.

"Yes, I'm listening, I understand, keep going," she said quickly and eagerly.

He exhaled deeply and took another deep breath. "All right, good. This morning, I was thinking – you know, really thinking about life, and school, and everything – and everyone. I do that sometimes when I feel really overwhelmed.

(A/N: Sorry to interrupt, but when I wrote that, I had forgotten all about "A Twist of Fate." I know now, all right? Anyway, it just strikes me that with everything that goes on in Harry's life, he should think about it a lot, and the subject of love and Hermione has to come up there somewhere, even if it's not connected.)

"And in all of those things, I realized I had always been missing something. In my life, I've always been lacking someone to love me, like a parent or a girlfriend. With school, I didn't have a girlfriend to help me get through the classes and keep my sanity. And everything has been affected by the fact that I have such a huge lack of love."

Hermione sighed. "But everyone loves you, Harry. You're a hero! Girls go crazy for you, all guys want to be like you and have your life, all the adults in the world thank you for saving the world, and those people who are mean to you are just jealous."

Harry breathed heavily and rested his head on the table. "I s'pose you're right as always. Thanks, Hermione."

She gingerly lifted his head up and gave him a small smile. "Harry, you aren't quite done yet talking."

"Oh yeah. Well then, as I was saying, I was thinking of that lack of a love life, and then I realized I'm absolutely mad to believe that. Because the girlfriend I was thinking about, everything that I imagined she'd be like – I realized I was practically describing you."

He smiled briefly at her, and she returned it, though blushing.

"Because you've been everything in my life, Hermione. Without you, I'd have died in my first year when Voldemort was after the Sorcerer's Stone. Even if you don't realize it, you've saved the world more than I have. You've always known everything. And the only reason I refused to admit to myself that I liked you was because of a fear that you wouldn't like me back."

"And what about when you knew I liked you? All that crap about 'maybe with some twist of fate, I'll like you,' huh? 'I know I don't like you either, but we're best friends and that's all that I need.' What exactly were you thinking, then?" Hermione demanded a bit angrily, because he had known full well about the misery she had gone through, wishing that someday he would love her.

"Okay, then I was paranoid. I thought we weren't ready to go out. Even though this shouldn't matter, I thought how much people would tease us, or think we were weird for going out with each other. And since I couldn't even admit to myself that I liked you, I couldn't tell you."

"Good point. So now that you have told me, what next?"

"Well," Harry said, nervously again. "Will you go out with me?"

"No," she said flatly. "You waited too long, Harry. I can't believe it's taken you so long to realize. Now it's too late."

His heart sank. "All right then. Sorry for bothering you." He got up and started to walk away.

"Harry, stop! I was just kidding, kidding!" she said, beaming.

"You fooled me yet again," he laughed. 

(A/N: Did I fool you too? Hee, hee! All right, I'll let you read in peace.)

"Boy, for a moment there, I felt ready to jump off a cliff. I also felt that way when you fooled me into thinking that you were actually under an Entrancement Enchantment, but maybe for a different reason."

"Don't worry," she said, giggling. "I'd never let you jump off a cliff. Especially now that we're together."

Harry grinned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "And now nothing will break us apart."

"Promise?" she whispered, as he leaned closer.

"Promise," he breathed back, taking her pinky in his, and kissing her firmly on the lips.

"Ahem!" Madam Pince cleared her throat. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, I just can't get it across to you that there is absolutely no making out in the library!"

They both blushed furiously and ran out of the library, every one of the students making fun of them, but neither of them caring anymore.

***

"I think it's sweet," Ginny said.

"I think it's sickening," Ron said, in regard to the fact that Hermione and Harry were now going out. "My two best friends—" He shuddered and broke off, horrified at the thought.

"Oh, Ron, you should be happy for them," she insisted.

"Why?" he grumbled. "Because they're now leaving me out of everything? Because Harry got what I wanted, once again…"

"You mean Hermione?"

He nodded sulkily. "And that's not the worst part. She knows I like her too! Why did she want to go with Harry? He always manages to get things that I've always been dreaming about."

"You dream about Hermione?" she asked, amused.

"Shut up!" he laughed. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm going to do what I can to break Hermione and Harry up – no matter what it takes."

***

Please, give me your feedback! If you don't like this, I won't waste time posting the next part (even though I'm done writing the whole series), so you have to tell me.


	2. The Set-Up and the Setback

Love Complications (Part 2)

By Firenze

**A/N: **This is the follow-up story to "Enchanted." I'd advise that you read that trilogy and the first part of this to fully understand everything. Anyway, in this, Hermione and Harry work to find Ron a girlfriend.

**P.S. **For all those people who don't want Ron to be all jealous and break up Harry and Hermione, I'm sorry. He's really in a bad mood in this part. Let me just say, for once in my fics, R/H fans should be satisfied for a while later on in this series. Anyway, don't want to spoil the outcome, or scare away H/H fans, because this works for everyone! Unless you're for D/H, C/H, H/G, or something else. 

For once, I don't want my fics to be only extremely cheesy H/H fics all the time (though I mostly write those). But romance doesn't work out that way, and you've seen my drama fics, and…well, ouch. So jealousy, revenge, and arguing it is, because my fics need more problems, they can't be so perfect.

**Disclaimer:** Anything and everything you know is from the Harry Potter books obviously is, and belongs to J.K. Rowling. If you seriously thought I had made these characters up or I AM J.K. Rowling, I'm seriously scared of you. (As you probably are of me anyway, because I'm so weird, as seen in most of my reviews)

***

"The Set-Up and the Setback"

Ron scowled for the umpteenth time that Friday, and flumped back against his armchair. It had been a few weeks since he had smiled at all.

"What's wrong?" Seamus asked, he and Dean sitting in the seats next to him in the common room. "It's not like _you_ have a girlfriend who just broke up with you."

He said nothing, but shot an icy glare towards Hermione, who was sitting in Harry's lap. They were whispering to each other and having a private conversation.

Dean followed Ron's furious stare and spotted them just as Harry kissed Hermione's nose and she giggled. Ron clenched his fists. "Oh, I get it. The problem is, he doesn't have a girlfriend, but he wants it to be someone who's already taken."

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, looking at the two other Gryffindor boys.

"You've got a crush on Hermione," Seamus laughed.

"Are you crazy? I do not have a crush on Hermione," he said firmly and finally.

"I don't think we're the crazy ones," Seamus said, and he walked off again, Dean right behind him.

***

"I feel kind of bad," Hermione breathed, as Harry planted kisses on her cheek.

"About what?" he asked, stopping and suddenly sitting up straight.

"Ron," she replied. "Ever since we've gotten together, he's been looking rather—"

"Murderous?" someone finished behind them.

The couple turned around to see Ginny, smiling with amusement. "Oh, you two are so cute!" she squealed happily. "I'm just so sad Ron doesn't agree." She didn't mention that Ron was trying to break them up, but she was going to help them; she was on their side.

"Maybe he needs a girlfriend to keep his mind off us," Harry suggested.

"He has had a horrible lack of a love life, don't you think?" Ginny said thoughtfully. "He seriously does need a girlfriend. But who?"

"Ever since Padma admitted that she didn't like him after the Valentine's Ball and that she just wanted to be friends, he's been sort of down and out with his luck with girls. I say he needs a girlfriend too," Hermione agreed.

"Then it's final. Ron needs a girlfriend, and we're going to find him one and set the two of them up," Harry replied.

Hermione paused, thinking. "I think it should be a Gryffindor girl, preferably in our year. It'll never be me, and it can't be Parvati, because she'd remind him too much of Padma. That only leaves Lavender."

"But she just only broke up with Seamus," Ginny pointed out. "I don't think she'd be much in the mood to be dating already."

"Think again," Harry said, nodding his head towards the corner of the room, where Lavender was flirting with a sixth year boy none of them really knew.

"So then that's decided too," Hermione remarked, "but we just need to find a way to get Lavender to date Ron. I guess I could always ask her."

"So it's settled then," Harry said, crossing his arms. "Operation: Ron Gets a Girlfriend starts now."

***

Hermione looked up from her book. It was nighttime and she was in her dorm, lying down in her bed, reading. Finally, Parvati had left the room for a brief moment. "Lavender?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah?" she asked, uninterested, filing her nails.

"I was wondering…would you ever consider going out with Ron?"

Lavender looked up in surprise. "Ron? As in Ron Weasley?"

Hermione nodded, crossing her fingers under her covers. Lavender was their only hope…

"Well, I suppose so," she said, resuming her nail filing. "He looks all right, and it'll get Seamus steamed…so, of course."

Hermione smiled. "Great! Just one little thing…he doesn't quite know about it yet."

***

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight. Hermione asked you to ask me out because she said I like you?" Ron asked, confused.

Lavender nodded. "That's the case – right?"

"Yeah. Just one tiny thing."

"And that is?" she asked curiously.

"I don't like you!" Ron cried. "I have no idea what Hermione's trying to pull, but I want it to stop right now."

She set her jaw determinedly, remembering Hermione and Harry's back-up plan. Guilt. "Aw, please, Ron? It's been so hard ever since Seamus—" She broke off sobbing, burying her face behind her painted nails.

"Look, Lavender, I'm really sorry! Okay, maybe we can go on a date or few, just stop crying!" he said, panicking.

"Oh, thank you!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much!"

Harry grinned and shot a look at Hermione, who smiled back. "Operation: Get Ron a Girlfriend is a success," he said and kissed her.

"Finally, we have peace," she replied, beaming, as Harry leaned in to kiss her again.

"Maybe not. This may not be the library, but there's still no making out publicly at Hogwarts! You're setting a bad example for the younger students – and you two are both prefects!" a stern voice shouted.

"Sorry, Madam Pince," they mumbled and walked away.

"Geez, why is she always there every time we try to kiss?" Harry asked. "Maybe it isn't Ron we should be worrying about."

***

Ron checked his watch for the millionth time. _How long is Lavender going to spend in that store? _

_ _

Their date to Hogsmeade was a total failure, even though he had supposed it to be anyway. He had no idea why Harry and Hermione had set Lavender up with him, but it was extremely annoying. He suspected they wanted the chance to just be alone together – without him in the way. _Well, Harry and Hermione are going to get a little surprise. I'm not going to sit around and watch them be a couple anymore._

_ _

Lavender finally emerged from the store, her arms full of bags. "Oh, Ron, do you think you could hold a few of these?" she asked sweetly, and then shoved all of the bags into his stomach. "Thanks, you're a doll."

He sighed impatiently and dropped all her bags on the ground. "Lavender, I'm sorry, but this really isn't working out."

"Ron, I know you can carry a few bags; don't be so lazy, you're supposed to be gentlemen-like," she snapped. 

"It's not that. I mean, this relationship really isn't working out. We shouldn't be together. We just don't click, and we're definitely not the right types for each other. We should do ourselves a favor and break it off before we start fighting. 

"You may have a point," she said thoughtfully. "I suppose we should." She sounded rather calm.

"I'm really sorry—" he said.

Lavender cut him off. "No, it's all right."

"I don't want you to be hurt, I know you just broke up with Seamus, and—"

"No, Ron, it's okay. Really," she insisted.

He fished in his pocket. "Look, I feel bad. I need something to give you to sort of compensate for it. Or maybe just so you can remember me." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and found three candy wrappers, a dung bomb, and a silver Sickle. "Well…" He looked around the area they were in, and spotted a beautiful pink flower. He plucked it out of the ground. "Here. I'm sorry."

"Thanks," she said sheepishly, eyeing it. "Well, see you later!"

"All right then. We've broken up," Ron said without any emotion. "I guess I'll be seeing you around." He turned to walk away.

"Oh, Ron! Could you help me with my bags?"

He sighed and turned around to have a whole bunch of shopping bags shoved into his stomach again.

Lavender pocketed the flower and giggled. "Thanks a bunch!" she said cheerfully, beaming.

Ron groaned.

***

Okay, that was a stupid part to end. Oh well, read the next one, coming soon to a spot in FF.Net near you! In the meanwhile, tell me what you think of this one (hint, hint: I really love good reviews!).


	3. Strange Behavior

Love Complications (Part 3)

By Firenze

**A/N: **This is the follow-up series to "Enchanted." I suggest you read the aforementioned trilogy and the first two parts of this series so you know what's going on. In this, Ron is acting incredibly weird, and Hermione is really confused and worried. She also has some strange visions.

**Disclaimer:** Anything you have seen in the Harry Potter books obviously isn't mine (which is about everything). Everything is property of J.K. Rowling. If you seriously thought I had made up these characters and things or that I actually am J.K. Rowling, you should go check a psychologist and see if you're mentally stable.

***

"Strange Behavior"__

Hermione pored through the thick volume and turned another page, deeply absorbed in it's contents. The library was quiet and tranquil, and it was the perfect place for studying. After all, it was only a matter of weeks before the big O.W.L.s. She just couldn't take her eyes off the page – or so it seemed.

She smiled to herself, realizing how much she fooled people in thinking she was so incredibly serious with her studies all the time. In reality, she was dreaming once again of Harry, as she usually did. But this time, she was trying to think of him as her boyfriend, not her best friend who had no feelings for her, like she used to. No matter how many times she reminded herself, she still couldn't imagine that they were actually going out.

"Hey, Hermione," someone said.

"Hello, Ron," she said, not even needing to look up to realize it was him. She could just tell, the way she could sense Harry from a mile away.

"You busy?" he asked, obviously trying to start some small talk.

"Yes, very," she lied easily.

"What are you doing?" 

"Studying," she replied indifferently, even though it was also a lie.

"Where's Harry?" he tried again.

"Quidditch practice," Hermione answered shortly, trying to concentrate.

"Why aren't you watching him?" he questioned.

"I'm said I'm busy. Harry will understand."

"Want to do something later on? We could visit Hagrid," he suggested cheerfully.

She didn't even look up yet. "Sure. Later."

He desperately wanted to talk to her right now. What would make her listen to him? "Hermione, I'm gay."

She wasn't startled or shocked. She continued to read. "That's nice."

He sighed impatiently. "I'm in love with Draco Malfoy, and he proposed to me yesterday."

"That's great," she commented uninterestedly.

What else could he try? It was his last chance… "I broke up with Lavender."

"What?!" she shrieked, her attention finally gotten. She threw the book aside. "What? Why? Why?!"

"We weren't right for each other," he replied.

"What do you mean? You two are absolutely perfect!"

"Yeah? In whose opinion?" he asked menacingly. "I know you and Harry made her ask me out, but the question is, why?"

She sighed. "Because, Ron, you seemed so left out. We wanted to find you someone, and Lavender just fit." She had no idea how many times she had just lied to Ron in the past minute, but it seemed to get easier every time.

"I think Harry did it to make sure," Ron said suspiciously.

"To make sure of what?" Hermione asked, her full attention now on him.

"To make sure I was out of the way. So you wouldn't ever fall for me?"

"I would never fall for you!" she cried, not even caring how mean that sounded. She was horrified at the things Ron could think about Harry. "I'm in love with Harry!"

"Oh boy, that potion got you hard," Ron remarked.

"_Now_ what are you talking about?" she asked furiously.

"Hermione, you've been under the influence of a love potion. Harry made it, and I found out. So that's why he convinced you to set Lavender up with me."

"That's a lie!" she cried out furiously. "I love Harry! I've been in love with him for the longest time ever. I even made a complete fool of myself with that whole Entrancement Enchantment mess. I wasn't even under the influence of it, Malfoy didn't even perform it, and I was faking the whole entire time, just for the chance to kiss Harry and show him how I really felt on the inside. You can't tell me Harry put a love potion on me! He would _never _do that, and you know it! What is your problem?"

Ron was shocked, but maybe it was for a different reason than the truth behind the Entrancement Enchantment fiasco. "Wow, that potion hit you worse than I expected. He put it on you _ages _ago, Hermione."

"Why would he go through the trouble?" she shrieked. "Even if I didn't like him, it would be bound to happen, because he's just about the most important person in my life, and the most incredible boy I know."

He sighed impatiently. "You just don't get it, do you? That potion's obviously eaten at your memory, too. Before he slipped it into your pumpkin juice one day at breakfast, you had been in love with me!"

Neither of them had expected what came next, but it happened in a flash. A millisecond after the words left his lips, Hermione's hand whipped up, and she slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

She was breathing so hard that her nostrils flared every time she exhaled. "I can't believe you'd say something like that! About Harry! And me! I have no idea what's gotten into you, Ron Weasley, but you better stop it, and I mean _now_!" She paused to take a few deep breaths, but they were slightly uneven. "The nerve you have! I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you'll never break Harry and I apart!"

With that, she turned on her heel and began to stomp away.

Ron ran in front of her and stopped her in her tracks. He forgave her for the slap as instantaneously as he had received it. "I'm sorry, Hermione," he said. "I have no idea what's gotten into me either. I'm really sorry. Friends?" he asked, extending his hand.

She hesitated, and then shook it. Ron grinned, and after a close examination, she realized that it was a true smile. But she failed to see the deceit and malice glittering in his brown eyes.

***

Hermione woke up groggily. Someone was slapping her cheeks. She blinked a few times and sat up.

Winky the house elf was leaning over her. "She's awake!" she squealed, and instantly a bunch of house elves circled around her. She saw that she was lying on the cold, tile floors in the Hogwarts kitchen.

Ron peered down at her. "Are you all right? What's wrong, the butterbeer is too strong for you now?" he joked.

"What happened?" she asked. Ron gave her a hand up, and the moment she touched his hand, she got a sudden, black and white vision of the past.

_They were in the library. Ron looked very apologetic. "Look, to show how sorry I really am, what do you say we grab a few butterbeers from the kitchen? We can seal the deal of forgiveness on a drink."_

_ _

_Hermione nodded, and they walked through the corridors to the Hogwarts kitchen. When they got to the painting of a fruit bowl, Ron tickled the pear and they walked inside._

_ _

_Dobby, Winky, and a bunch of other house elves instantly greeted them._

_ _

_"Hey, can we have two butterbeers?" Ron asked Dobby. _

_ _

_Dobby was wearing possibly the oddest assortment of garments he had ever worn. He was wearing Ron's shrunken maroon sweater, a navy blue and purple striped tie around his neck, Vernon Dursley's mustard yellow sock, a bright orange sock with lime green spots, his tea cozy on his head, a plaid kilt, and a gauzy, pink scarf around his waist. "Yes," he said quickly, and made to scurry away, but Ron changed his mind._

_ _

_"You know what?" I'll come with you."_

_ _

The vision faded away. Hermione's head stung now. "Ouch," she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"You remind me of Harry," Ron laughed. "Here, take your butterbeer, you never finished all of it." When he handed her the tankard, she got another vision.

_Dobby filled up two tankards of butterbeer._

_ _

_"You know what?" Ron said. "I'm feeling spontaneous. What does butterbeer and chocolate syrup sound like to you?"_

_ _

_"A bad combination, Dobby says, sir," said Dobby. "But if that's what Wheezy wants—" He zoomed away, and with a flash, returned with a bottle of syrup._

_ _

_"Thanks. Oh, hey, what about cherries?"_

_ _

_Dobby raised an eyebrow, but instantly obeyed._

_ _

_Ron threw aside the bottle of chocolate syrup, and instead, he pulled out a small vile from his pocket. He unscrewed the cap and poured its contents into a tankard._

_ _

_Dobby came back. "Here is the cherries you wanted," he said._

_ _

_"Thanks!" Ron smiled, and took them._

_ _

Hermione dropped her tankard. It fell on the floor with a loud, echoing clatter, and butterbeer splashed everywhere. No – it couldn't be true, it couldn't. Visions, premonitions, Divination; you couldn't see the past like that. It was all a figment of her imagination – or was it?

"Is something wrong with the butterbeers?" Winky asked in surprise, while two other house elves mopped up the spill.

But Hermione was staring at Ron with a look of shock, incredulity, and fear. "What did you put in my drink?" she demanded.

"Huh?" he asked in bafflement.

She repeated her question, this time with more force.

"Nothing!" he cried. "Hermione, I didn't do anything, I swear!"

She still eyed him suspiciously. "Ron, I have no idea what your problem is, or what you're trying to hide, but I'm not going to take it anymore." She turned around, and ran out of the kitchen before he could stop her.

***

Yep, that's it. In the next one, there's going more jealousy and suspicion and problems (just to show I'm not always some happy-go-lucky, cheesy romance writer [even if I might be], but God knows I'm no angst writer, so watch out). Look out for it soon (as in tomorrow). But for now, review this story!


	4. The Triangle Forms

Love Complications (Part 4)

By Firenze

**A/N: **This is the follow-up series to "Enchanted." And if you've read the other parts, you would've known that. So if you haven't yet, I suggest you read these six things: that trilogy and the first three of this series, so everything makes sense. 

In this particular part, an intense love triangle is building between Harry, Hermione, Ron, and a slug. Just kidding, it's only the first 3. Hermione must decide whom she can really trust, and debates over the possibility that one of her best friends has put her under a love potion.

**Disclaimer:** Everything recognizable from any of the Harry Potter books clearly is property of the amazing J.K. Rowling, and I have nothing to do with it, except I'm an author writing this story for my own enjoyment, and for the readers, too, I guess. If you honestly thought these characters and things are of my making, or that I actually am J.K. Rowling, I'd advise you to visit a doctor and find out if you're a real human.

***

"The Triangle Forms"

Harry trudged back from Quidditch practice. Every single bone in his body was aching, all his muscles were sore, and to top it off, he was soaking wet, because it had started to rain halfway through practice.

The only thing that kept him going all the way to Gryffindor Tower was the thought of Hermione. He was caught up with every part of her, her shining eyes, which twinkled when she was happy, her velvety hair that bounced up and down when she ran, her flushed cheeks, which used to redden even more when she was around him, her soft, sweet-tasting lips…

A person running very fast bumped into him, and knocked his senses back in. By the look of their bushy, brown hair, and the way his spirits were instantly raised, it had to be Hermione.

"Hermione!" he cried out in glee, speeding up to catch up to her, despite the fact that he was ready to collapse. "Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes—"

When he reached her, turned her around, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked at her face, the expression he saw looking at him was one of fear. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open in shock. Suddenly, she appeared puzzled, thinking something over. Then suspiciously, her eyes narrowed quickly, she wrenched herself from his grasp, and dashed away.

"Hermione!" he called after her. "What's the matter? What's going on?" He was now too tired to run after her again. Soon, she was so far ahead, that all he heard was the faint patter of her feet on the ground. 

He heard footsteps behind him also. Ron jogged up by his side. "How was practice?"

"Exhausting," Harry said. "But it wasn't as bad as the greeting I got from Hermione." He explained to Ron exactly what had happened.

For a fleeting second, Harry could have sworn Ron had a look of contempt and smugness on his face, but when he blinked, Ron was looking perplexed. "Really? She was acting kind of weird at the library, too, now that I think about it."

"Who knows?" Harry said, sighing, and dragging his feet forward, leaving a trail of water behind. "I'll never be able to understand girls."

"Ditto," Ron replied.

***

Hermione leaned back against the headboard on her four-poster, hugging her pillow tightly. She had been trying to lose her thoughts in a nice book, but it just wasn't working too well. No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, Ron's weird behavior and the possible truth of his words mystified her.

She was just so confused. What if Harry really had put a potion on her? _No, he'd never do that. I loved him all on my own. _

_ _

What if Ron had put some in her butterbeer? Now that was a definite possibility, and that really scared her. She loved Harry, and she knew it. But if the potion was real and it took over, her life would be a complete mess. Why did Ron have to be so spiteful of her and Harry's relationship, which otherwise would have been perfect?

"Is something getting to you?" Parvati asked Hermione, while reading an issue of _Teen Witch_ magazine.

"Not really," she lied, feeling nauseous at her dilemma. Who could she really trust? She would normally have been able to answer that instantly, but when it was between her two best friends in the world, one of whom was her boyfriend, it was impossible to decide.

"Never mind her," Lavender said breezily, re-taping her poster of Celestina Warbuck, which she had autographed at the Valentine's Ball, up on the wall. "It has something to do with Harry and Ron, and that'll keep her like this for days at the least."

For once, Lavender was actually right, but she was probably better at understanding people's emotions than schoolwork. "I just need to think," Hermione replied quietly, burying her face in her pillow.

Suddenly, Lavender whipped out a pack of cards from her trunk, and Hermione had always figured her to be too much of a girly-girl to play Exploding Snap, so she was a bit surprised. But instead, it was a deck of tarot cards.

"I'll give you a reading," she volunteered to Hermione. "Maybe it can clear up what's going on in your life, and what's to be expected to happen next."

"I suppose so," she replied, because at least it was something, Divination or not. She crawled out of her bed, and sat on Lavender's, where she was arranging the cards.

"Now, flip them over," she instructed, opening up the book.

If tarot cards had a bit of truth to them, this reading just might have had it. According to the book, Hermione's situation was that many complications in love would be heading her way in the very near future. A love triangle was building, and Hermione and two other boys would soon be entangled in it. She'd have to make a quick decision on who she could really trust, and try to find a way to fix everything in her life with her friends.

Hermione sighed. "Everything is pointing to the fact that I am in a deep mess."

"Don't worry," Parvati said comfortingly. "You've never believed in Divination, so why start now? I'm sure things will look better in the morning."

Hermione nodded, and settled into her bed, her thoughts now just more jumbled and confusing than they had been before Lavender tried to solve her problem.

***

The next morning wasn't looking up for anyone. Anyone but Ron, that is. Ever since he awoke, he was walking with a sort of spring in his step, and for some reason, he was really interested with getting to breakfast.

"Whoa, calm down," Dean said, as Ron practically threw his robes on.

"Gotta dash!" he yelled, and zoomed away.

Harry had overslept, and once he got up, the room was deserted. He took a quick shower, changed, and he was combing his hair in front of the mirror when he remembered what had happened last night, and his heart dropped.

Hermione had run away from him. He could practically see her expression of mistrust and wariness that she had worn in the mirror. What had he done to make her suspicious? 

He wasn't sure, but he gave up on trying to fix his hair, and ran to the Great Hall to try and find out what was going on. Hopefully, if it wasn't too much too wish for, she'd speak to him this time.

***

Hermione slowly raised her spoonful of porridge to her mouth. This morning, she was sitting with Parvati and Lavender, because she couldn't bear to face Ron or Harry, even though he wasn't even there yet. She still couldn't decide who was the right one to believe and trust, and the dream she had had last night only did to further confound her.

_It was the end of January. Hermione skipped down to the Great Hall for breakfast in delight. She sat down between Ron and Harry, in her normal seat. Both of them said hello and smiled cheerfully at her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ron grinning widely._

_ _

_She reached across the table for the plate of eggs, and at that time, out of the corner of her eye, she distinctly saw Harry empty something into her goblet. "What was that?" she asked him, but he shrugged innocently._

_ _

_"What do you mean?" he asked naively, and Ron growled._

_ _

_The scene flashed to the whole time during the Entrancement Enchantment phase, and she remembered how entirely out of control her feelings had been, and she was convinced that she truly wasn't using her own actions. It just couldn't be._

_ _

_~_

_ _

_But then she saw it from Harry's point of view. She had always like Harry, ever since their first year, and it only intensified more up until their fifth year when she really noticed it. And hormones raging; she had been desperate to get so much as a glance from him._

_ _

_The idea of an enchantment sounded perfect to her, and she grabbed at it. The whole time, she realized how jealous Ron had been acting, even though he had hit it off with Padma, not counting the whole Super Energy Elixir thing._

_ _

_It flashed to how much more jealous he appeared when Harry and Hermione started going out with each other. Maybe he had gotten desperate, and it _was_ a love potion he had poured in her butterbeer._

_ _

_In the end, she decided to trust Harry, because after all, he was her boyfriend, and had always been the person she could trust the most in her life. But then he let her down. The next week, she was walking by an empty classroom, and she saw Harry making out with Cho. She heard their conversation, also._

_ _

_"…Yeah, it was fun with Hermione. We had some good times, and she was an okay kisser, but I got tired of her. She was like a leech after a while. Maybe that potion wasn't such a good idea," Harry panted, and then started to kiss Cho's neck._

_ _

_"I can be so much better than her for you," Cho replied, and they were kissing passionately again._

_ _

Hermione's head was swirled, and she dragged her spoon around in circles in her bowl of porridge. Harry probably was using her, cheating on her with Cho. And Ron's possible love potion had had no effect as of yet, and that was if her vision had even been real. With that, her mind was now totally made up.

Harry ran into the Great Hall as fast as he could, nearly tripping on the hem of his robes. "Hermione!" he cried out, instantly spotting her, even out of her regular seat. "We have to talk!"

"There's nothing to talk about," she said angrily, walking away, abandoning her porridge. She wasn't much in the mood for breakfast anyhow, and she definitely wasn't going to talk to her so-called "boyfriend".

Harry stared after her, and ran his hand through his tangled hair. What had he done to make her hate him so much?

Ron, who was smiling widely, unaware of the globs of porridge on his chin and cheeks, waved at Harry and motioned him to come over and sit down.

He grinned back and walked to the empty chair. When worst came to worst, he could always trust his best friend Ron to stand by his side. Right?

***

Ron was alone in the common room, brushing up on chess tactics. He needed to think of new ways to beat Harry and let Hermione win without her knowing he had.__

Just then, Hermione burst through the portrait hole, looking slightly crazed. "Ron!" she said merrily and darted to him. She proceeded to sit next to him on the armchair he was on and kiss him hard on the lips. "I'm so sorry I didn't realize the truth sooner…" she breathed.

He closed his eyes, and a huge grin spread across his face, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her more intensively. They kissed for the longest time, abandoning all fears. It seemed like they would never see each other again.

"What's going on?" asked a fearful voice.

The tangled two broke their kiss to turn and see who was speaking. Luckily, it was only Neville, but maybe that wasn't such a lucky thing at all.

"Hermione?" he asked in disbelief. "You ran away from the library to kiss _him_?" The loathing was pretty clearly heard when he referred to Ron. "He's your boyfriend's best friend."

"Harry doesn't have to find out," Hermione whispered.

"I don't have to find out what?" someone asked, entering the common room.

Neville raised a slightly trembling hand and pointed at Hermione and Ron sitting very close together on one armchair. Eyes following Neville's finger, the person who had run into the room's heart stopped. None of them would ever forget the surprise, confusion, fury, wretchedness, and mostly the hurt and suffering all blended together on Harry's face.

***

I won't keep you hanging for long! More soon (meaning tomorrow), if you give me enough reviews (they have to be somewhat good though, because flames may slow me down).


	5. Love, Losses, and Lies

Love Complications (Part 5)

By Firenze

**A/N: **This happens after "Enchanted" and the other four parts before this, you know the drill. Here's the basic summary: There's a lot of hurt feelings, more betrayal, enmity, and arguing. All you people who think you know me, and what I'm going to write: don't be so sure. I've got this storyline so twisted and confusing that if you know, you must either be Lady Unicorn, or you're inside my head. Like I said to Lily Granger: expect the unexpected.

Oh yeah, here's the basic theme of this part: **"What goes around, comes around."** (Well, I remembered that from the "Survivor" finale. If anyone else was ripping furniture apart when Rich won, e-mail me so we can complain about it together.)

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling pretty much owns everything in this fic, except the plot, and I am not connected whatsoever. I'll say it again – _please seek help_ if you still think I may some way be the creator of these amazing characters, settings, and everything. I made up a few stupid potions and that, but nothing else.

***

"Love, Losses, and Lies"

Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He said nothing, didn't move, and barely breathed for a few moments. The tension in the room was so thick that you could have sliced it with a knife and served it on a plate. Everyone's eyes determinedly avoided everyone else's, except for Hermione and Ron, who kept stealing glances at each other every once in a while.

And after a minute of hostility, Harry turned around and slowly walked away. He felt like punching someone, because his rage was uncontrollable, yet again, he felt so crummy that he wanted to curl up in a little ball on his bed and cry his eyes out. The result was, he shoved the portrait forward, burst through it, and stomped away, though ready to cry.

In his phase of gloom and misery, he blocked out everything happening around him, leaving him in a black pit of despair and loneliness. He felt like no one understood him anymore, when someone brushed by him in his or her haste.

"Oh, I'm sorry," they apologized quickly. "I wasn't looking where I was going –" The person stared at him. "Obviously, neither were you," they remarked, seeing Harry's completely blank and lifeless expression.

He heard their voice very faintly, echoing in the abyss of desolation that existed only in his mind. By their sweet and kind tone, it was Cho. "Hullo," he said dully.

She had been a lot nicer to him after Cedric's death, and they were actually becoming friends. He had gotten to know her, and after a while, he decided she wasn't his type. "Harry, what's wrong?" she asked quietly. "You look horrible."

He sighed, and was caught up in his self-pity again. "I caught Hermione kissing Ron in the common room."

"Hate to say I told you so," she said heavily, "but you should have never dated her." Cho sounded very sympathetic and tried her best to console him. "I knew that this would happen sometime, and it's always hard to lose a loved one." Her eyes were lined with tears.

He didn't say anything; they just plodded down the hallways, going nowhere in particular. Harry still had that dejected feeling, and held back the strong urge to just burst out crying.

"I mean, you need someone who can care for you, and who would never be disloyal to you—" Cho paused, and Harry saw the words on the tip of her tongue. 

The two of them were quiet and unmoving, but then she took a deep breath and looked him right in the eye. "Like me," she whispered finally.

Without him even realizing, she had inched even closer and pressed his lips to his. All of Harry's worries and bad feelings instantly vanished, but he knew that, also because of this, that they would be back in a flash.

***

Ron was entirely lost with kissing Hermione. Everything he had wished since his third year to come true finally was. He was kissing the most beautiful, perfect girl he had ever known. Yet suddenly, at the moment, she seemed very tense.

"What's the matter?" he asked her, breathily heavily.

"This just isn't right," she finally muttered. Why did she always get bad vibes about someone else when she was kissing someone?

"Why not?" he asked casually, well aware of what her reply would be.

"Harry. It just isn't fair to him. I don't even know what's come over me at all, but I know I shouldn't be doing this. He's my boyfriend and I love him." Hermione repeated this in her head several times, but she didn't convince herself fully.

"I'm sure you're going to run after him and pretend this didn't happen," Ron said sullenly. "This whole moment just never existed. Go ahead."

"I have no choice," she said, biting her lower lip. "I suppose Harry hates me now." Her eyes really stung, for she felt so bad about cheating on him. "I gotta go," she said, springing out of the chair. "I'm sorry!"

She left Ron all alone on the armchair, and now everyone was feeling completely horrible.

***

"Harry, I'm so sorry about what I did—" Hermione began, bent over panting, when she reached him. Then he eyes widened and she did a double take.

Cho was kissing Harry, and he yanked himself away from her. "Hermione!" he cried weakly.

Now she felt even worse. It didn't work, and her dream was wrong. She trusted Ron, and Harry hated her, and then cheated back on her with Cho anyway.

Cho moved aside. "So how does it feel? To see your loved one kissing someone else?"

For once, she spoke without tact, and her thoughts came out of her mouth. "Not as bad as you're going to feel, you slutty b—"

"You did it first, and now you can have it come back and bite you in the as—" she retorted.

"Whoa, calm down!" Harry cried, intervening. "Both of you just calm down, and I –- I'm leaving." He walked off back to Gryffindor Tower, not wanting to get in the middle of this catfight. 

Hermione growled at Cho, and then walked off to the library to vent her feelings by herself. Cho just snarled, did something incredibly rude with her finger, and stalked away to the Ravenclaw area.

And back in the Gryffindor common room, resuming his chess strategies, Ron was completely oblivious to the destruction he was causing to a could-have, should-have, and would-have been perfect relationship and the friendship of an inseparable trio.

***

Double Potions, Harry's favorite class with his ever-so-favorite teacher, Snape, with his favorite house, Slytherin. They were working on various antidotes. He paired up the class, Gryffindor/Slytherin, with the exception of Harry and Ron, because everyone now knew about their "situation," and Snape naturally loved causing antagonism.

Harry and Ron were assigned to make the antidote of a Divulging Potion, called a Concealing Potion. Basically how a Divulging Potion worked was a person's darkest secret was revealed and exposed, so people could have it used against them. Or it brought it the feelings they were trying to hide and make them realize it. So to leave things how they were before was where the Concealing Potion took place.

They worked in silence, not talking at all, strain between them growing. Harry was angry, and he felt the time to act was now, when Ron couldn't slip away. Just like Karakoff had done last year to Snape.

"So why did you do it?" he asked softly, pouring out three tablespoons of powdered thyme to the boiling cauldron.

"Do what?" Ron asked in the same stiff, yet as calm as possible manner.

_Put that damn love potion on Hermione, you great, blithering prat! _He urged, to yell, but Snape would be sure to take off plenty of points and assign a detention, so he tried to remain as civil as possible. "Whatever you did to Hermione."

"What makes you think I did something to her," Ron asked, clearly annoyed, avoiding Harry's eye and chopping up five tulip stems into tiny pieces very savagely, "and she didn't act on her own?"

"Because I know things about her that's she's told only me," Harry answered. "I've practically seen into her soul, the way she spilled her heart to me. I know she'd never do that herself."

"Right," he retorted, "of course you trust your girlfriend when she cheats on you. Why? You think I bewitched her? Because I'm not good enough, and she'd never go for me?" Ron's patience was running out quickly, and he nearly chopped off a finger in his anger.

"Calm down, Ron, let's be courteous about this. I just want to know, did or did you not give Hermione a love potion? Because those are illegal at Hogwarts, and you were never much one for rules either."

"No," he said angrily, finally staring Harry in the eye. "You got that? I didn't even need to. Hermione's always loved me anyway, so I didn't have to waste my time."

Harry could have scoffed, but he held it in. To be sure he made no cruel remark, he shut his mouth.

"She had it in her heart, but she refused to see it, to believe it. So don't blame me."

Now he was ready to explode. "And why the hell shouldn't I blame you? This is your entire fault, you liar! What kind of sh—" he began, and saw Snape out of the corner of his eye, nearby, telling off Neville for melting Goyle's cauldron and sizzling a hole through the tabletop –"sh—tuff are you talking about?"

"All I did was help her realize what was inside her heart," Ron said coldly, and turned away.

Harry was about to retort, but then he realized something. 

For the rest of the time, he didn't say a single thing to Ron, and vice versa. They made the antidote perfectly, and any unknowing person would think they had used great teamwork. Luckily, Snape had no time to say anything to them, because time was running out.

When class was finally over, and they were cleaning up, Harry transfigured a measuring spoon into a clear, glass vial. He dipped it into the cauldron, before dumping the light bluish potion into the drain, and hid the filled vial in his pocket before Ron came back from rinsing off the equipment. 

If Ron had been telling the truth about Hermione…Harry thought he had found a way to foil his plan.

***

Hey, people, 

**NEWSFLASH**: the next part should be the end, the finale, or maybe it's just the end of this series with room for another follow-up. You know me (Meaning, that's what it is, and there's a HUGE plot twist). So the more who review this, the sooner I post the last one!

I've never done this before, but I'm desperate for reviews (and I feel really evil), because I _need_ to know what everyone thinks, and I want to know your predictions. Here's how it works, all right?

**5 reviews:**1 week (You can do better than that)

**10 reviews:**4 days (Fine, but not enough)

**15 reviews:**2 days (Thanks! But you can still do more!)

**20 or more:**Tomorrow! (Thank you, thank you, thank you! I know that's a bit much, but I'll personally mention all your names in the next part!)

That's right! Now start reviewing, and I mean it!


	6. All is Right in the End... Or is it?

Love Complications (Part 6 and final)

By Firenze

**Summary: **I know you want to read it, so I'll make a long story short: Everyone still feels horrible, Hermione now has something new to decide, and it only gets worse for one of the boys when she makes a final decision on who to trust and what to do. No worries, everything will be solved. (Yeah right, knowing me, it's another huge plot twist and plenty of unsettled things so I can write another follow-up.)

**Disclaimer:** I'll make this fast too, so you can read the dang fic – everything you know from the HP books is; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, I have nothing to do with it, I just write for fun.

***

"Everything is Right in the End"

Subtitled: Or is it?

Hermione, who was feeling very bad, sniffled. Her eyes were very red too, from crying her eyes out. Her life was too depressing, and she couldn't handle it anymore. She was positively sick of it.

_Ron or Harry? Ron or Harry?_ Who could she trust? Either way, her decision was wrong. But her most fatal decision had been to cheat on Harry. What had she been thinking? Ron? Could she really love him? Or was she even thinking at all when she did it?

She moaned, and buried her face in her pillow as she had done many times before. Her sobs were muffled by the pillow, and her bitter tears absorbed.

"Hermione?" someone asked uncertainly.

Her senses instantly perked. The beating of her heart quickened, but this time it was for a different reason. She still hadn't decided, and if they were asking to know whom she trusted, she wasn't sure. "Go away," she whined.

"Hermione," the person repeated, pushing aside her curtains and taking a seat on the foot of her bed. "Please stop crying, we need to talk."

She sighed, and took her face away from the pillow. Casting a wary eye at Harry, she was shocked to discover that he was crying too. "What's wrong?" she asked in concern, forgetting her own troubles. Never had she seen Harry crying, in five years of friendship.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "Forget it." He removed his wet glasses ran his sleeve over his eyes. All traces of tears were gone, and Hermione wasn't even sure if they had even been there in the first place, or if they were her imagination. 

"Please, tell me!" she begged.

Harry sighed and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small vile filled with light bluish liquid. "Never mind. Just drink this, all right?"

Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Concealing Potion," he said stiffly. "I just want to check something, all right?"

"Now why would I—" she began, but he cut her off.

"Promise me you'll drink it," he said firmly, obviously not going to take no for an answer.

Her eyes, which had considerably dried, threatened to leak again. "The last time I made a promise with you, look at the mess we got into," she said resentfully.

"Just trust me," were ironically his final words, and then he walked back out the door to the dorm.

Now she was only more confused than ever, as she raised the vile in front of her face. _Drink or don't drink? _she asked herself, and then moved on to something bigger: _Should I – can I trust Harry?_

_ _

***

Ron rubbed his eyes and sat up in his bed. A bright, new morning, a fresh new start. _Who am I kidding? I'm still in the mess I was in for the past few days. Except today – _as Hermione had told Harry and him earlier _– today is the day she's going to decide._

_ _

It was still very early, and the other boys were asleep, but Ron couldn't get himself back to sleep if he tried as hard as he could, so he dressed and went down to the empty common room.

But it wasn't empty. A bushy haired figure was sitting comfortably in one of the armchairs.

"Hermione," Ron said quietly, walking up to her.

She turned around, and her bloodshot eyes welled up. She seemed to get more emotional for the slightest reasons in the past days, and now she looked as though she hadn't had any sleep. "What do you want?" she asked, gripping something very tightly in her fist.

He was distracted by it. "What's that?"

She shoved her hands in her pockets. "Nothing. Now what is it?"

"I wanted to ask if you had decided," he said timidly.

"I said I would tell you today, I think I would've decided!" she yelled. Too bad she hadn't. "Now leave me alone, I need to think."

_What's her problem? _Ron fumed, and then when she raised her hand to shoo him away, he saw what she was clutching. It was a tiny vial filled with blue liquid – the Concealing Potion – and his heart dropped. "Oh, all right," he said softly.

"I'll tell you at breakfast," she said curtly, hoping she had her mind set straight then.

"I have some advice. Don't drink that stuff in your hand – speak from the heart." Then he walked back up to his dorm with nowhere else to go.

Running a hand through her tangled hair, which she hadn't bothered to brush, she sighed heavily. Now she was even more lost. _What was that supposed to mean? _She knew she had to speak from the heart, but what did this blue stuff Harry gave her have to do with it? Was it poison? Another weird potion?

She would have to figure out whom to trust before she drank this (or didn't), and only then could she decide this, and not a moment sooner.

***

"Where is she?" Ron hissed. It was the first time he was directing something to Harry in a while, but this time it was spoken _at_ him, not exactly _to_ him.

Harry checked his wristwatch, which Hermione had given him for his birthday since his old one had stopped ticking ages ago, and realized that she was ten minutes late. They were standing outside the Great Hall for breakfast, and there was no sight of Hermione.

Suddenly, she came dashing down the corridor. Her eyes were sparkling – or glistening? Was it happiness or tears? "I've made a decision," she replied, in an oddly croaky voice.

They were relieved somewhat, because the suspense had been unbearable. She drew in her breath, and opened her mouth. "I—"

"Stop!" Harry said, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Ron sighed in exasperation. "What is it now?" he asked impatiently.

Harry stared right at Hermione, completely ignoring him. "Did you drink it?"

"Ummm…" she said softly.

"Did you drink it?" he repeated urgently.

"Why?" Hermione asked him uncertainly.

"You have to speak for yourself, and you can't have a potion decide it for you."

"What potion?" she wondered, now more confused than ever. "The love potion you put on me?"

"What?!" he asked in shock. "Love potion! You're the one who was in love with me first!"

"But Ron said—" she began.

"Why don't you ask Ron what potion he slipped into your butterbeer?" Harry spat, glowering at him.

Ron looked down at his shoes. "All right, then," he said through clenched teeth. "I put a Divulging Potion on you, all right?"

Hermione put her hands in her pockets, and out of one, she pulled out the vial. "So maybe I should drink this…"

"It's your decision," Harry said quietly. "I can't make you do anything." _Unless, of course, I put you under a potion like that sneaky rat over there did._

_ _

She unscrewed the cap and smelled the potion. It smelled like a mixture of blueberries and burnt toast. Then in a quick motion, she gulped it all down.

Ron sank to his knees on the ground. "Oh, get up," Harry growled.

Hermione suddenly felt very lightheaded. "Whoa, that was odd." She paused. "All right, I suppose I can make my decision now. I hadn't picked it out yet, because I wasn't sure, but now I'll just speak anything from the heart. I just want to make sure that none of you get hurt too badly."

"Agreed," the two boys said at the same time and snarled at each other.

"Here goes," she said heavily. "Okay, I just want to make sure of everything one last time. Harry, you _didn't_ put a love potion on me." She looked at him, and he nodded. "But Ron, you _did_ put me under a potion."

"It was for your own good," he mumbled.

"Fine. Since I didn't have much time to think this over, I'm going to just tell you exactly what's going on in my mind. I've known you two for five years, and during that time, we had a lot of fun and fights. I always liked Harry, because he was brave, and nice, caring, daring – he just seemed like the perfect guy. Or maybe I just thought that because I was trying to hide something from myself.

"When Ron put that potion on me, it really opened my eyes. Secretly, without my knowing, I'd actually liked him, but I just refused to admit it to myself, because we always fought, and he was so different, and he wasn't as great as Harry. But that didn't stop me from liking him, and even though Harry was the perfect one, I never looked at him as more than a best friend. I was just too afraid to admit to myself that – that—"

Hermione carefully avoided both boys' eyes. "I'm in love with Ron."

Ron had the urge to go wild and start going crazy, because for once, he had finally won over Harry. He'd gotten the girl, he had something Harry didn't.

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and caught Hermione's eye. She was shocked to see he wasn't crying, or hurt, or anything at all. "That's fine," he said with some sort of relief, "because you're not the only one who realized something. I figured that had we even stayed together, things would actually be worse off."

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"I found out that I don't even really love you like that at all, and it took all my will to convince myself that I did when we were going out. I was just looking for love because the lack of it from not having parents took over, and I went for the closest girl to me – which is you. So I'm sorry if I hurt you, I'm sorry we even got into this mess at all. I thought it was Ron who was in the way of you and I, but in actuality, it was me in the way of you two."

Harry smiled briefly. "You two deserve to be together, and I'm an idiot for not seeing it sooner."

"I think that makes us all idiots," Ron laughed along with the rest of them. He caught Hermione's eye and then swept her up in a kiss.

Harry grinned, knowing that this is how it was meant to be all along.

They didn't even realize it, but most students were done with breakfast. Parvati walked out of the Great Hall, and accidentally bumped into Harry. She then spotted the two kissing. "Ron? Hermione?" She whirled back around. "Harry?!"

Ron and Hermione broke apart for a few seconds and nodded at her, grinning. Then they went back to kissing each other. Harry just smiled to let her know that he was okay.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it!" Parvati shrieked happily.

"You wanted Hermione to get Ron?" Harry asked.

She nodded speechlessly. "Sorry, but I mean—"

He cut her off. "You know what I can't believe?" he replied.

"What?"

"The biggest idiot of all, Trelawny, actually had her third right prediction!" Harry exclaimed. Parvati looked hurt, but she ended up laughing with them too, in the end.

Someone came out of the Great Hall a few seconds later. "What's everyone laughing about?" they wondered curiously.

"You won't believe this!" Parvati shrieked. "It's amazing! Look, Lavender! Lavender…!"

***

"…Lavender! Lavender!" Somebody shook her.

Lavender lifted her head, rubbed her eyes, and sat up straight. "What's going on? Where am I?" She stared at the person who was looking back at her. "Ron?"

Ron gave her a small smile. "You fell asleep in the library," he told her. "Lunch is over."

She looked around. Her back ached; she was sitting very uncomfortably at one of the tables, and she had been bent over, resting her head on a thick encyclopedia. "Boy, that was some strange dream," she remarked, fixing her hair.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked her intriguingly.

"It all started in this exact library, when Harry confessed his feelings about Hermione…" she started. She went on to explain every single aspect of what had happened in her dream, leaving the part about their date out. It took a while, but it was quite a story. When she finished, Ron gave a low whistle.

"You have some imagination," he said with a laugh. "But maybe the Harry and Hermione thing wasn't so far-fetched."

"Now what do _you_ mean?" Lavender asked.

With a grin, Ron pointed to a nearby table. Harry was leaning towards Hermione to whisper something in her ear, when Madam Pince walked by.

"No kissing in the library!" she insisted furiously. "If I've told you two once—"

"I wasn't going to kiss her, I swear!" Harry cried.

Lavender and Ron grinned at each other. "Just like your dream," Ron remarked.

"That dream really was something, wasn't it?" she asked, as they walked out of the library to their next class. "Maybe I could write books or something."

"I doubt it," Ron said, figuring she wasn't the intellectual type. "But it does have a good plot, and it's very believable." 

"You could say that again. It was like it was actually happening." She casually put her hands in her pockets. "Wait a minute, what's this?" She pulled something out.

"What?" Ron craned his neck to see what it was.

In her hand, Lavender had a rather crumpled, yet still beautiful, pink flower.

"Where'd that come from?"

She just stared at it in shock.

***

**A/N:** What did I tell you, huh? That was seriously weird. If you don't get that ending, you better read the second part like I told you to. I don't think any of you really expected that, except Lady Unicorn. Actually I was going to use that ending for an entirely different story, and this was going to turn out to be the real thing where Harry and Hermione got together, but I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. 

Whoa, in 1 day I got 50+ reviews!It almost tops "A Twist of Fate" (68) and that's been out for like half a year. Look what happens when you beg, I got reviews from tons of people I've never heard of! I promised I'd thank everyone, and unlike Hermione and Harry, I try not to break my promises. I even wrote a note for everyone. 

**Note**: these aren't in order that you posted, just in the order I got my e-mails. 

1. **Vivian** - thanks so much!

2. **Lily Granger** - thanks for all your e-mails!

3. **Margaret Conley** - thanks

4. **Misty's Angel** - glad to see you like it so much!

5. **Meg** - lol, thanks

6. **Hermione** - I agree! But sorry, I wanted to try something new

7. **Katia** - I don't call 5 pages that short, do you?

8. **Margaret Ferran** - thanks for being so, ummm…polite, but no need to beg!

9. **Lugia2/Artenis** - Hey, I got over two and a half times more! Didn't I?

10. **Anonamous** - it's spelled _Anonymous_, by the way

11. **(::)** - Whoa, great name! I didn't even know "which one" you're talking about

12.**Nice** - that's the way you should feel, I mean, if you're a H/H fan

13. **Kewlguy** – Nice try! 2 reviews from the same person count as 1!

14. **Ryan** - well, you got it!

15. **Hermione187 **– Awww, I'm not _that _evil. Anyway, you didn't even need to review under other names, look how many I got!

16. **Lizzy **– glad you love it. You found out, are you still happy?

17. **Danielle **– I'm glad you like it.

18. **:-) **– That's the way the characters are supposed to seem!

19. **Tilly** – I'm glad it kept you guessing, I had it planned that way

20. **PixyChick **– Sorry it wasn't H/H. The point of the fic was for everyone to hate Ron, R/H fans or not. And it wasn't Harry's choice to kiss Cho!

21. **mdx1 **– Yes, are you calmed down now that it's over?

22. **Slytherin Pure Blood **– Thanks! I will e-mail you!

23. **me **– presumptuous, awww, I'm hurt. No seriously, I'm nothing like that.

24. **AngieJ **– Thanks!

25. **Genevieve S **– Well, did I have you fooled for a few minutes with the R/H?

26. **Jeanniefan65 **– thanks!

27. **Fawkes** - you FINALLY posted something after what, 2 months? 

28. **Amethyst **– thank you for still posting even though I had enough already!

29. **Prue **- thanks

30. **Jennifer Phan **– well, I did****

31. **Pepper**, (otherwise known as Mommythatgirlisscaringme,makehergoaway) - errr...thanks for the DESCRIPTIVE 

reviews)

32. **Unicorn Lady** - can you read my mind? How'd you know about the dream thing, huh?

33. shipcommander – yeah, it was cruel, but it worked!

34. **Nicadon** - confusing, ain't it?

35. **Danna **– Well, I posted it

36. **Shazta **- yeah

37. **Lynn **– yeah, Ron is supposed to be that way in this fic. Anyway, your review sounded like something I would write!

38. **Rich **– it _was_ less than a day! sorry, I haven't started the follow-up though

39. **Hillybilly-2000 **– a shock, wasn't it? I'm happy you loved it

40. **Maple **– Thank you so much!And I always thought I sucked at writing…

41. **Kate **– thanks!

42. **Cassandra Claire **– you really thought Ron and Cho were in character? Anyway, thanks!

43. **Kathy **– that was a pretty good prediction, but it depends on how you perceived this

44. **Flora **– I guess it was pretty weird… Oh my gosh, I know! Sue is such a b****! Okay, sorry

45. **HP FREAK **- thanks

46. **Mariel **– thank you!

47. **Samantha **– I'm sorry for the cliffhangers, but I did post it!

48. **Cassie **– thank you so much

49. **Fanfic Freak **– suspense sucks sometimes, doesn't it?

50. **Rufus **– I will finish Tapestry of Fate (I'm getting pressure from a lot of people, but I'm still in school until next week, so be patient). Not exactly a happy ending, but the H/H will finally come in the follow-up (whenever that us)

(52?) **HATE!!!!!!!!!!!** - You don't count, that was a mean review; and what are you talking about, I don't even know you

Whew, that was tiring. Took me more than half an hour. If I forgot anyone, I'm sorry!

For all those nice people who reviewed, please review this one! Just say the word if you want a follow-up to have the _real _H/H, because this has been fun, and I'll be on vacation next month. Thanks for reading!

Firenze


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